Murder in the Cathedral

Essay Q&A1. Compare the parallels between the presentation of Becket`s return to Canterbury in Part I and the accounts of Jesus` entrance into Jerusalem in the New Testament. What do these parallels suggest about Becket`s significance within the play?Becket`s return to Canterbury is clearly framed in terms that allude to Jesus` “Palm Sunday” entrance into …

For good or ill, let the wheel turn. The wheel has been still, these seven years, and no good. For ill or good, let the wheel turn. For who knows the end of good or evil? -Third Priest, Part I, p. 18 Temporal power, to build a good world, To keep order, as the world …

BiographyAlthough born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1888, Thomas Stearns Eliot is remembered more as an English author than an American one. While a doctoral student in philosophy at Harvard, Eliot was influenced by F.H. Bradley, who taught about “immediate experience as a means of transcending appearance and achieving the Absolute”-a theme apparent throughout Murder …

Theme AnalysisIn its assessment of Eliots importance to modern English literature, A Literary History of England (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967; ed. Albert C. Baugh) argues that a shift from despair to hope-a change from “the inert resignation of those who breathe the small, dry air of modern spiritual emptiness” to something more positive and potentially …

Metaphor AnalysisThe wheel was a symbol, in medieval times, of the “wheel of life” or the “wheel of fortune,” “which never stands still, being constantly subject to the turns of fate” (Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 379). No doubt Eliot draws on these ancient associations in his texts multiple references to the wheel, but he also …

Character ProfilesThe Chorus: an unspecified number of Canterburys women, is a corporate character serving the same purposes as does the chorus in Greek drama: to develop and, more importantly, to comment on the action of the play. The womens initial speech fairly defines their dramaturgic role: “We are forced to bear witness.” And yet this …

Summary Four days after the Interlude-December 29, 1170-the women of Canterbury again gather, and again speak ominous, foreboding words as they lament “the death of the old” year and the promise only of “a bitter spring” to follow. The priests have been marking the liturgical feasts that come after Christmas-the feast of St. Stephen, the …

Interlude Summary Archbishop Becket preaches his Christmas morning sermon, taking as his text the traditional narrative of the announcement of Christs birth to the shepherds in Luke 2. Becket makes several points in his brief homily. He tells his listeners that, through the bloodless sacrifice of the Mass, the Christian community celebrates Jesus death at …

Part I Summary The scene is the Archbishops Hall in Canterbury, December 2, 1170. A group of Canterburys women find themselves inexplicably drawn to the cathedral, filled with foreboding. Three priests also arrive, wondering about the circumstances surrounding the imminent return of Archbishop Thomas Becket to Canterbury. Becket has been in exile for seven years; …

A Note on Historical BackgroundNote: In the following commentary, all page numbers refer to the Harvest Book (Harcourt, Inc.) edition of T. S. Eliots Murder in the Cathedral. Eliots text makes many allusions to Scripture; this analysis quotes the Bible to help illumine the text. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this analysis are from …